Justin Hadley logged on to HealthCare.gov to evaluate his insurance options after his health plan was canceled. What he discovered was an apparent security flaw that disclosed eligibility letters addressed to individuals from another state.

“I was in complete shock,” said Hadley, who contacted Heritage after becoming alarmed at the breach of privacy.

Hadley, a North Carolina father, buys his insurance on the individual market. His insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina, directed him to HealthCare.gov in a cancellation letter he received in September.More

I received an interesting call this morning from my neighbor informing me that their two air conditioning units has been stolen. They explained to me that when the company that services their units went onto the roof, my two units had been stolen as well. Keep in mind Folks, these are FOUR commercial a/c units on a second floor roof.The Opportunity Shop called the Salisbury Police and a report was taken. They explained to the Salisbury Police that my units were stolen as well. However, the Officer never went onto the roof when they had the opportunity. They never took pictures and they never searched for fingerprints. Today I learned when the Opportunity Shop talked to the Detective on the case, they mentioned my units as well and the Detective said there's nothing in the report about Joe Albero's units. (Mind you, I wasn't made aware my units had been stolen until this morning) They told him they told the Officer but he never took pictures or went up onto the roof. You have to access my roof in order to get to the Opportunity Shop roof. I've also been told the wiring to the electrical box on my building has also been stolen. Obviously I haven't been able to get to my building to see what damage has been done but I will soon enough. Let me add this as well. I own a building in Pittsville that used to be owned by an electrical supply company. When I bought the building it had many spools of commercial wiring worth around $50,000.00. A few weeks ago I got a call telling me someone had broken into the building. Low and behold, they stole ALL of the electrical wiring. Now there's a Fire Department next door and a busy restaurant and no one saw a thing. I'm talking BIG spools of wiring. The Sheriff's Department told me this was the biggest theft crime to happen this year in Wicomico County.When I spoke to the Detective on the case they told me this was going to be very difficult to solve. GO FIGURE. Someone with $50,000.00 worth of scrap wiring and it's going to be difficult to solve. I've never received a follow up call on this case.Nevertheless, crime is going UP, not down. To think a group of people can go onto a roof in Downtown Salisbury and steal 4 air conditioning units as well as wiring from the ground floor and no one saw anything is just ridiculous. For the Salisbury Police to refuse to take a report on my building should tell you what retaliation feels like for someone like myself. Oh, yeah, we see there's been a crime but we'll just wait to see if the owner of the building contacts the Police. I ran for Mayor because I wanted to be a part of making things better. I run Salisbury News because I want to make things better. It's no wonder why people want to leave this area. Heck, if Salisbury can't even Police the Downtown area now, what will happen when Ireton and Day get their 500 subsidized housing units on the parking lots Downtown. Oh, that's right Jimmy, you'll need to raise taxes to hire even more Police Officers while your giving away EDU's for special interests. The taxpayers will handle it, right?I guess that mean Terry Cohen isn't fiscally responsible, BUT YOU ARE?More to come.

Most everyone has heard of the 'Rapture'. This is a time mentioned in biblical prophesy when Christian believers will be 'taken away' - and spared to endure the hardships that manifest itself in a world gone amuck. I am sure that most all Americans have seen movie scenes whereby people literally vanish.Upon observing the latest tally from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics for Salisbury/Wicomico - it as if the 'Rapture' is being played out right here in our own backyard. According to the employment data - our workforce is vanishing leaving only those who are recipients, while the contributors - (taxpayers) - are vanishing. The shear number of disappearing workers is alarming especially given the fact that traditionally the lions share of the State/County/Municipal budgets income is derived from income tax receipts. Normally - one would logically conclude that the State/County/Municipal budgets would be trimmed to help offset the decline in revenues derived from a disappearing workforce. Quite the contrary - the facts reveal that the operating budgets have significantly increased. This situation poses a demise especially for property owners - as the portion of the 'pie' - (property taxes) - will have to be significantly increased. Otherwise we will end up bankrupt just like Detroit, San Bernadinao- among many others.Desperate Times Call for Drastic Measures

What bankruptcy really does is it goes beyond the usual suspects. Usually [municipalities] nail the taxpayer and they nail the public employee. What bankruptcy will do is bring the banks, the lenders, the bondholders into the mix. Could it be that Salisbury/Wicomico could be headed for an economic showdown in the foreseeable future? Taking a look at the following employment data reveals that soon - something will have to give as Salisbury/Wicomico County is now losing well over a thousand jobs a month.

President Obama defended his signature health care law Wednesday in a speech from Boston, saying that people who are losing their insurance plans because of the law should start shopping around for better coverage.

Speaking at historic Faneuil Hall, Obama acknowledged the problem-plagued rollout of ObamaCare and attempted to deflect criticism over the wave of cancellation notices hitting small businesses and individuals who buy their own insurance.

The cancellation notices apply to people whose plans changed after the law was implemented or don't meet new coverage requirements. The president said those changes ensure that all Americans are able to get quality coverage.

"So if you're getting one of these letters, just shop around in the new marketplace. That's what it's for," Obama said. "Because of the tax credits that we are offering, and the competition between insurers, most people are going to be able to get better, comprehensive healthcare plans for the same price or even cheaper than projected."

While the White House spied on Frau Merkel and Obamacare developed into a slow-moving train wreck, while Syria was saved from all-out war by the Russian bell and the Republicrats fought bitterly about the debt ceiling… something monumental happened that went unnoticed by most of the globe.

The US quietly surpassed Saudi Arabia as the biggest oil producer in the world.

You read that correctly: "The jump in output from shale plays has led to the second biggest oil boom in history," stated Reuters on October 15. "U.S. output, which includes natural gas liquids and biofuels, has swelled 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd) since 2009, the fastest expansion in production over a four-year period since a surge in Saudi Arabia's output from 1970-1974."

After the initial moment of awe, pragmatic readers will surely wonder: Then why isn't gasoline dirt-cheap in the US?

There's indeed a good explanation why most Americans don't drive up to the gas pump whistling a happy tune (and it has nothing to do with evil speculators). Let's start with the demand side of this equation.

Crude oil consists of very long chains of carbon atoms. The refineries take the crude and essentially "crack" those long chains of carbon atoms into shorter chains of carbon atoms to make various petroleum products. Some of the products that are made from petroleum may surprise you.

More than 47 million Americans who receive food stamps will see their benefits go down starting Friday, just as Congress has begun negotiations on further cuts to the program.

Beginning in November, a temporary benefit from the 2009 economic stimulus that boosts food stamp dollars will no longer be available. According to the Agriculture Department, that means a family of four receiving food stamps will start receiving $36 less a month.

The benefits, which go to 1 in 7 Americans, fluctuate based on factors that include food prices, inflation and income. The rolls have swelled as the economy has struggled in recent years, with the stimulus providing higher benefits and many people signing up for the first time.More

"Our guys are frustrated by Obama's unforced errors," a Senate Democrat aide toldReuters on Wednesday. "How could the president not be ready for the rollout?"

"Some of us, myself included, are somewhat resentful [and] upset about the apparent incompetency in designing and rolling this thing out," said Nolan. "Who was it that said we are going to go ahead knowing it doesn't work? I would fire that person."

You have to give it to CBS. On Benghazi, they are the network holding the Obama administration’s feet to the fire. At some point, Americans will have to begin to realize that there is a scandal hiding in all of the BS that the Obama administration has been peddling about the 9-11 Benghazi attack and its aftermath. Just this past weekend, CBS ran an explosive report providing first-hand accounts that the White House and the State Department (headed by Hillary Clinton) knew full well that the Benghazi attack was indeed an al-Qaeda orchestrated attack right from the start. Even more damning – there is new evidence that shows they were expecting this attack for months!

A woman in North Dakota is making headlines after announcing she will not give candy on Halloween night to overweight kids who ring her bell.

Instead, she'll hand out a letter.

"You(r) child is, in my opinion, moderately obese and should not be consuming sugar and treats to the extent of some children this Halloween season," reads a line in the letter, which was posted on the the "Today" show's website.

In the letter, the woman justifies her actions with the common phrase, "It takes a village to raise a child."More

Tens of thousands of Marylanders could soon be told their current health insurance won't cut it under the Affordable Care Act.

More than 70,000 health plan customers in the state would be affected after regulators were informed recently by 9 insurance carriers in Maryland that their plans do not qualify, according to The Washington Post.

So far, the numbers being informed of that sort of problem are running into the millions nationwide as insurance carriers.

The White House is blaming the carriers for not conforming to the new law.More

As you can see from the above image, the two units were stripped to the bone and the cages that surrounded them put back in place. This wasn't done by your every day crack addict. These were professionals who knew exactly what they were doing. As an update to my experience, (so far) with the Salisbury Police Department, I had a fantastic conversation with the Detective in charge of the case and am very confident they are on to the people involved. I can't say any more than that as I do not want to interfere in their investigation.I was able to express my disgust with the Officer in charge and all I'll say is, I'm not alone. More to come...

Since Obamacare made its debut, discussions have focused on Ted Cruz’ efforts to defund the law and the shockingly bad functionality of the Website itself. Fortunately for Obama, polling indicates that Senator Cruz has lost, at least for now, the battle for hearts and minds. The President has not been nearly so lucky on the technological front. If current trends continue, the rollout may go down as the worst major product launch in history. But given the government’s enormous resources, it’s safe to say that the site itself will ultimately be fixed. But when it is finally up and running, the plan’s many deeper, and more intractable, flaws will come into focus. That’s when the fun will really begin.

Put simply the program is built on a mountain of false assumptions and is covered by a terrain of unanticipated incentives. Any cleared-eyed observer should conclude that it is perfectly designed to raise the costs of care and wreck the federal budget. However, like just about every other complicated problem that bedevils the nation, the public has become far too caught up in the politics and has ignored the horrific details.

Mayor James Ireton, Jr. and Director of Information Technology Bill Garrett are proud to announce Phase 1 of the Downtown Wi-Fi project is now on-line and operational in the Downtown area. The new wireless Internet access is free for all visitors to Downtown Salisbury, and offers unlimited access for laptops, smartphones, tablets, or other Wi-Fi enabled devices. The initial phase covers the area adjacent to the Government Office Building, along North Division Street from Route 50 to West Main Street (see map below). As the project continues through the winter, the entire Downtown Salisbury corridor along West Main Street from Division Street to Market Street will be covered.

“We are excited to see the initial phase of the Downtown Wi-Fi project come online today. As subsequent coverage is rolled out over the coming weeks, we’ll see the downtown corridor blanketed in a free municipal Wi-Fi coverage area that we hope encourages growth and revitalization to the area. We expect the entire project to be completed this winter,” said Bill Garrett, Director of Information Technology.

So far the part of the Obamacare rollout that is going most smoothly and affecting the most people is the cancellation of current insurance polices. In states around the country, hundreds of thousands of people are getting notices from insurers that their plans are no longer allowed by the law. All told, 16 million people may be dumped from their policies, in flagrant contradiction of President Obama’s famous promise that you can keep your health plan if you like it.

Maybe the president didn’t understand the basic architecture of his own health care law, which depends on a government takeover of the individual insurance market. The rules governing the new system impose a novel federal definition of insurance on the country, and plans that don’t meet it, regardless of how well they may have served their customers in the past, are, by and large, verboten. Some are grandfathered, but the rules are strict and a great many existing plans won’t pass muster.

Who would care about Chelsea’s political opinions if her name weren’t Clinton?

Has there ever been anyone the media have wanted to see run for public office as desperately as they do Chelsea Clinton?

Asked Monday if she planned to run, the former first daughter told CNN, “Not now,” adding that she currently lived in a city, state, and country where “I really believe in my elected officials, and their ethos and their competencies.”

Then she added, “I had very much led a deliberately private life for a long time, and now I’m attempting to lead a purposely public life.”

“There’s no doubt that innovation increases under pressure,” urban designer and public policy analyst Michael E. Arth tells The Washington Times Communities. In 2010, he launched a quixotic bid for Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination. While this was not a success, it set the ball rolling for discussion about the role special interests play in politics.More

After a gang member shot and injured several law enforcement officials before going into hiding in a Sacramento suburb on Friday, police responded by setting up a checkpoint and aiming guns at innocent people’s heads, an AP photo shows.

The photo, (credited to AP Photo/The Sacramento Bee, Randall Benton) is captioned, “A California Highway Patrol officer and another emergency responder stop a vehicle at a checkpoint near the neighborhood where a federal immigration officer was shot and three local police officers were wounded during a violent confrontation with a suspect in the Sacramento suburb of Roseville on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013.”

After an hours-long standoff, the suspect, 32-year-old gang member Samuel Nathan Duran, eventually surrendered after leaving a nearby house in which he had been holed up.

Laura Mitchell and Jim Ireton were over the top again for yet another council meeting. These two need to get their unprofessional emotional outbursts under control.Mitchell's regular attacks on city attorney Mark Tilghman, complete with on-the-verge-of-tears quivering voice and lip, are getting to be one old soap opera. Mitchell obviously has a personal vendetta going against Tilghman. If he had done what Mitchell asked him to do, she would have been writing up yet another complaint or "inquiry" to the Ethics Commission against him for the crime of doing his job. In fact, what happened to the LAST one she claimed she filed, hmmmm?Then there was Jim Ireton's rant on Terry Cohen for - are you ready for this? - asking questions! Terrible, just terrible to ask questions. Cohen asked for the head of Finance to explain for her and the public what the plan was for sustaining the costs of employee raises. No attack, just a request for an explanation. That's her job. Ireton REFUSED to let him speak!Just for added drama, Ireton attacked Cohen and others as FISCALLY IRRESPONSIBLE for raising police salaries at the point when the many veterans were ready to walk, thereby putting YOUR safety at risk. Don't you feel safer knowing that Jim Ireton considered it fiscally irresponsible to protect YOUR safety?Ireton finally let the finance department head speak, in which everyone watching could have been spared a lot of drama. But that just goes to show you that Ireton did it deliberately FOR the drama, not to mention another opportunity to be rude to a woman, in which he has shown himself to have quite that pattern of behavior. You also have to wonder why he keeps putting through his high-dollar proposals BEFORE things like the audit come out. Hmmm, again.

SALISBURY, MD---The Salisbury University community is reminded that local businesses have parking lots that are for the use of customers and employees only.

The owner of the College Square Shopping Center, located on College Avenue across from the Dresser parking lot, has notified SU officials that in the very near future, vehicles parked in the College Square lot not associated with businesses at the shopping center will be ticketed and towed.

Campus community members are urged to avoid parking in this location. The elimination of this parking lot does not permit individuals to park on side streets and in neighborhoods that are restricted by a city ordinance. Those parking off campus should observe the posted signs and not park on streets that require residential parking permits (including (West College Avenue, Loblolly Lane and Smith Street.)

Students wishing to obtain a University parking permit may do so by accessing their GullNet account and following navigation path: Self-Service>Campus Finances>Register for a Parking Permit. The parking permit charge will be placed on the student’s GullNet account.

Blue (evening), Gold (East Campus), Parking Garage (quantities limited) and Red (for faculty/staff only) permits are still available for purchase. Permits may be picked up in the Parking Services Office in the East Campus Complex. The office is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Crisfield, MD – Today, State Senator Jim Mathias stood with United States Senator Barbara Mikulski as she announced an additional Housing and Urban Development block grant of $19 million to assist the Lower Eastern Shore, Somerset County and Crisfield, in their continued recovery from Hurricane Sandy.

These funds are a furtherance of funds that were initially delivered to the Lower Eastern Shore to aid in the recovery and rebuilding efforts. Today’s announcement of the $19 million much needed recovery money adds to the initial grant of $8.6 million to assist Somerset County and Crisfield residents in their recovery efforts and plans to go forward. Following the storm, Senator Mathias worked with Maryland’s entire Congressional Delegation and the O’Malley administration to successfully persuade FEMA to reverse the initial denial of the individual assistance for citizens and businesses in need.

“When this devastating storm struck Crisfield and Somerset County, I immediately reached out to our local, state and federal officials to marshal the support and resources necessary to begin the difficult recovery process facing our families and businesses,” explained Senator Mathias. “Federal, state and local governments, including the National Guard and others, responded immediately - assisting the local fire and ambulance companies, rescue squad, volunteers and faith-based organizations in unity to lead the Crisfield and Somerset County recovery effort.”

“The vital additional recovery funds will help with restoration recovery, construction, job growth and economic development,” stated Senator Mathias. “I remain dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Sandy as they continue their recovery effort, as well as my fellow citizens, throughout Worcester, Wicomico and Somerset Counties, in every challenge facing us. Today’s announcement is yet another example of working together to achieve progress and positive solutions for our citizens, and I appreciate the effort of our local, state, and federal leaders in their work for our community.”

***Senator Mathias represents District 38, which includes all of Somerset and Worcester Counties and part of Wicomico County on the Lower Eastern Shore. He is a member of the Senate Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over healthcare, energy, and business legislation. Prior to his election to the Senate, he served the residents of the Lower Shore as a member of the House of Delegates and as Mayor of Ocean City.

The National Security Agency has secretly gained access to the main communications links connecting worldwide data centers of Yahoo and Google, Washington Post's Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani report.The Post, citing documents obtained from former NSA contractor Edward Snowden and interviews with knowledgeable officials, details a project called MUSCULAR that sends reams of customer data from hundreds of millions of user accounts, including those of Americans, to NSA servers.

The program works by exploiting "clouds," which are massive data centers across continents that are connected by thousands of miles of fiber-optic cable that are used by the Silicon Valley giants to function with minimal data loss and system slowdowns.